


You Gotta See Blood

by staticfiction



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Lycan!Sungjin, Paranormal Investigator JB, Paranormal investigation, Their base of operations is a bookstore, Urban Fantasy, Wizard!Jae, just a few descriptions of dead bodies, there may be some slight gore?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-14 17:12:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16496789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staticfiction/pseuds/staticfiction
Summary: It's complicated when you're the only openly-practicing wizard in the country willing to serve a law enforcement agency. But sometimes business is business, especially when being Guardian of the City doesn't pay. So when the weird begins to line up in a series of crimes that transcend the mortal creativity or capability, who else comes to the call? That's right. You. Good thing there's Sungjin, ever-reliable to make sure you don't die in a ditch solving the strange and twisted, and catching, well, whatever else goes bump in the night.





	You Gotta See Blood

“I hope there isn’t anywhere else you need to be,” I say as soon as Sungjin appears from the street corner. He’s dressed as usual: scuffed sneakers, dark grey jeans torn at the knees, black shirt, and that leather jacket he’s grown a liking to recently. As have I. It will be a sad day for humanity when the weather warms and to the back of the closet the jacket goes. Or maybe not. Summer does have its wardrobe perks.

He grunts and scrunches his nose. “You mean at eleven in the evening on a Friday night? Where else would I be?”

Clearing my head of the image of exposed collar bones and knees, I gesture toward the dark alley without explanation. Mostly because I don’t have a good one, but that does allow me to receive an unbiased opinion.

Sungjin turns to me with a barely stifled grimace. “Another dead body. Why am I not surprised.”

“What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?”

“You only call me when someone’s dead.”

“Oh, come on,” I contest weakly, “I call you for other things, too.”

Cleansing the city of evil is not the one-person job my ancestors liked to think it is. Especially when murder is involved. Even less so when you’re the only openly practicing witch in the country willingly offering your services to a special unit law enforcement agency for a consulting fee. Extra difficulty points when you’re next in line to inherit the responsibility of protecting the city. Raise that to the power of nine when you’ve spent your formative schooling years and part of your early adult life in another country studying for said witchcraft degree, thus alienating you from the culture and heritage you were born in.

Hence, Sungjin.

The incidental fact that Sungjin is a Lycanthrope is a happy coincidence I just happen to benefit from. Unlike a shifter, he doesn’t transform into a wolf neither through magic— his own or someone else’s— or through a curse via the rise of the full moon. Physically, Sungjin is human, indistinguishable from any other regular person— at least on the surface. On the inside, he’s a little more unique. Born as a natural channel for a spirit of rage, Sungjin houses a Wolf spirit, an alpha that makes him stronger, more aggressive, and resistant to physical damage and disease.

This means I get to walk around undetected with a guide/bodyguard. Heavy on the guidance, light on the bodyguarding. Sungjin knows I’m more than capable of defending myself. It’s embarrassing myself and doing something I shouldn’t that he’s worried about. And  _ fine _ , I may have a history of getting myself into life-threatening situations but that doesn’t minimize or invalidate my skill. It just means that  _ sometimes _ , I can’t go into these things alone.

Sungjin steps into the alley, and with the light of the full moon large and silver overhead, our shadows cast long and gangly on the concrete. I follow closely behind him extending my Sense. The easiest way to explain what Sense is is to liken it to an awareness of the paranormal and the supernatural, it’s not simply seeing, hearing, or feeling  _ more _ the way Sungjin can. It’s that weird ghost of a feeling that makes the hair at the back of your arm stand on end, that niggling that you’ve forgotten something, and that odd  _ just knowing _ something isn’t quite right.

“What do you think?” I ask. It’s never good when Sungjin takes this long to assess the crime scene. His heightened senses help cover what my Sense fails to catch— which is very little but ever since that one time with the raining frogs, Sungjin’s made this rule about never running into a scene until after he’s cleared the vicinity. I do as he says because you really don’t want a Lycan’s rage directed at you.

Further in, the expression on his face pulls into a mix of concern and confusion. “Well, whatever it is, it’s not good.”

The smell reaches us first, a sickly-sewer smell, rank and metallic. I knew it was a dead body even before I crossed the street, felt the void taking a life left behind in the energies surrounding the area, but I’m never prepared for it. My stomach quails and I press my palm against my mouth to keep from gagging. Up ahead, is blood. A lot of blood. It pooled thick and scarlet around a mound of bodies, two of them, both with their ribcages expanding outward like their hearts had exploded right out of their chests. I sway backwards despite my strict training and the walls of self-control I’ve built. Sungin’s hand, just barely touching the small of my back, anchors me to the present.

“You okay?”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Yeah,” I answer, voice steadier than I thought it would be. I don’t ask how he’s doing even if I see the tightness in his jaw and the strain in his eyes. Sungjin hates showing vulnerability, and the last thing I want is to tell him I notice he’s not okay. On that vein, I right myself before I fall into his arm or something ridiculous like it. With his senses turned up to eleven, being touched becomes an unpleasant experience for him. I can’t imagine what it’s like for him now, seeing all this, smelling all this, experiencing all this and just being here at all. “Can you get anything useful?” I ask. “Do you think you can track...anything?”

“I’ll try. But we need to take a closer look before the local police arrive and process the scene.”

And then we’re out of the loop. Human crime scene units don’t exactly cooperate with, or are even aware of, the High Council of Elders that govern the Others— Magic folk, every other sentient being not quite your strain of plain regular human, you get the picture.

Sungjin an I circle the scene carefully, noting down all the details we can as fast as we could. I can remember most of the details, look back in my memories for whatever I can’t recall immediately, and cross-reference with Sungjin should the need arise.

“What do you think?” Sungjin asks.

“I don’t know, we’ll need more information. But something like this can’t be a crime of opportunity. There’s too much involved in making someone’s heart explode like that.”

“So that’s what you’re saying? Their hearts exploded? What about the defensive wounds?”

“I can’t explain what the defensive wounds right now, but exploding hearts is the only way to explain why their ribs look like they were pried open from the inside. This is really powerful magic. We’re looking for a very specific individual and I  _ might _ have ideas where to start asking around.”

Like me, Sungjin isn’t looking at the bodies anymore, both of us with our heads turned away and leaning toward the main street. “I’ll see what I can find. I’ll see you again tomorrow?”

I nod and we go our separate ways just as the lights from a patrol car pass by.

 

***

 

The following morning, Sungjin drops by the bookstore just before lunch to exchange notes and updates. He comes into the shop, announced by the bright tinkle of the bell above the door, with a large brown bag of sandwiches and coffee, and a smile that rivals the sun. When he’s like this, dressed in a warm grey hoodie and denim jeans, it’s easy to forget he’s a natural born killer trained for the hunt.

“Hello?”

“Up the loft,” I answer. I’ve been looking through the old texts and reference scrolls for anything that might be useful for tracking down what kind of magic is needed to blow someone’s hearts up.

Needless to say, the bookstore is a cover. On the outside, it’s a 24-hour off-the-wall kitschy affair just off-campus. Your non-standard independent bookstore. You’d think 24-hour bookstore equates to study cafe or a euphemism for something, but it’s exactly what it says on the label. On the inside, it’s an actual bookstore with shelves lined so closely to each other the ends fade into each other’s shadows. The inventory is eclectic: used books in excellent condition, the nigh unheard of trade books, and nothing from the Top Anythings. Just a lot of books that make you feel like you’ve walked into a wizarding world. And it smells. Like old books, wood varnish, and bergamot that’s permeated through the old walls.

“Find anything interesting?” Sungjin asks, climbing up the narrow spiral staircase.

I’m on the ladder, about a full storey up, retrieving a book on Thaumaturgy. The way the shelves are set, dizzyingly high and looming above, always make me think I’m climbing into another world unknown. I’m fairly certain the air is thinner up here, too. “I think so? I might have some ideas. And you didn’t have to bring me lunch.”

“I didn’t,” he deadpans. “Wonpil made me do it.”

Wonpil is his housemate, information I know of as a side effect of having worked with Sungjin for more than a year now. I’m not sure what Wonpil is exactly as we’ve never met, but the way Sungjin talks about him gives me the impression Wonpil isn’t human. Or at least he gives Sungjin an inhuman amount of mental stress.

I crane my neck to look at him from over my shoulder. I almost fall off, and Sungjin rolls his eyes at me. “Did you hear anything interesting from your network?”

He sets the paper bag on a work desk. “Get down from there before you fall. And then we’ll talk.”

“Let me get this book first.” With one hand, I’m holding on for dear life, while my other is pressed white on the lip of a shelf. I spot the spine of the book I’m looking for and lean until my fingertips graze the old leather. Obviously, the solution here is to go back down the ladder, move about an arm’s length to the left, and go back up to retrieve the book. But, no. I  _ lean _ .

It all happens so fast. First, there I am  _ leaning _ . Next, my finger catches the edge of the book dislodging it from the shelf, but only just so. Then the books are whizzing past me in a blur of colorful spines and the floor is zooming in at me in alarming speed. Before I know it, I’m landing in a tangle of limbs with the air knocked out of my lungs in a muffled  _ oomph _ . The fall hurts, but not as much as it does on the inside.

Sungjin catches me, of course. Inhuman reflexes and all that. I look up just as he lifts his head to give me his most insufferable  _ I told you so _ look. The fact that he is right is only secondary to the fact that I am sprawled on top of him— my nose on top of his chest, his hands on my upper arms, my knees splayed over his hips, and my eyes hovering over his parted lips. For a moment, I am distracted by his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat as he swallows. I know it’s taking him all his strength to make sure he’s not crushing me in his hands. Only Sungjin would take the impact of a fall and ask you if him saving you is hurting you. I look up and our eyes meet.

This is not the time for this, and yet it’s as if we are both frozen in the moment. Sungjin’s eyes are a deep, earthy brown with flecks of gold revealing the beast within. Yet when he’s looking at me like this, there is nothing but warmth and safety in his eyes. He’s afraid he’ll hurt me, but he’s the only person I trust to never do that. He thinks he’s a monster, but I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him as anything but brutally soft. Like this, feeling the warmth of the soft fabric of his hoodie against me, and inhaling his clean oceany scent, it’s almost as if I can just be a girl, and he can just be a boy, and there could be something  _ more _ . But in this world, attachment is both a vulnerability and a weakness. Sungjin and I, we have no room for anything but duty and honor-bound responsibility.

Sobered by the thought, my heart comes to a stop from its wild beating in my chest. It’s an easy roll to the side and we’re back up on our feet, both of us feigning nonchalance. I pick the book up from the floor, silently muttering an apology to the book deities watching over us.

“There aren’t a lot of ways someone can make someone’s heart explode,” I begin, “So we’re looking for someone really strong or really stupid. Definitely a wizard. Definitely premeditated. That kind of magic...” I shudder at the thought. “It’s dark. And angry.”

“And it’s personal.”

“Very.”

Magic in itself is a personal experience. It comes from inside you. Not everyone is born with the aptitude to tap into the energies of the universe to harness its power, and even for those who do it’s hard to explain. Magic isn’t just something you do. Magic is the flow of energy from one form to another, it can neither be created nor destroyed, only redirected and transformed. Magic is created by life, it is awareness, intelligence, and emotions. For magic to cause death, and in such a violent way, is the utter perversion of its very nature.

Through lunch, Sungjin fills me in with the information he’s gathered over the night and I update him with what I’ve found out so far. All in all, we know nothing about who could have done this, how, or even why. Only that the victims were two university students, a couple celebrating their first anniversary at the club. Witnesses say they were arguing, but what kind of argument would explain the kind of defensive wounds they had? They had been in a fist fight before their hearts exploded.

After lunch, Sungjin and I comb through our known networks and contacts through the Underground and the Magic Folk hiding in plain sight. We visit clubs and other establishments that catered to Others but find nothing. The old antique shop near the palace, always the source of local gossip and whispers offer us no new information, saying they heard nothing, know nothing of any dark magic being used around the city. No one seems to know anything about what’s going on. Which only means everyone knows about it but no one wants to talk about it.

“You’re asking about something that could get you killed,” the old pigeon lady by the church said to us. “I’d stay away from those deaths if I were you.”

Which only meant we had to work harder finding answers. This is easily becoming one of those days when neither Sungjin nor I feel much like useful members of the Magic World’s secret society of Guardians. At least for me, that’s the role I was born into. For Sungjin, his participation is by association. But he hasn’t abandoned me. Yet. Even on the days when we look and look and look and find nothing. All this magic and resource under our disposal, there exist days when we still come up with blanks.

“Do you want to take a break?” Sungjin asks just before sunset.

“I hate this,” I answer.

We’re strolling down a busy thoroughfare down a strip mall. Everywhere I look, it’s colors from fashion boutiques or cosmetics, or from stalls selling street food. The smells are the best part of this, sweet and spicy all together and all at once. The better food smells, the more likely it’s bad for you. Be it sugar or meat or something cooked in fat and oils. It’s life’s greatest irony. But then again, who knows. Maybe this is the sign from someone out there watching over us saying we don’t have to diet all the time. So I take it all in, the scent of food, perfumes, air conditioning, and a hint of beer and alcohol. I love my sense of smell.

You nose knows. I’m sure Sungjin would agree.

“How can folks not know anything? What are they so afraid of?” I say, resigning myself to the twilight. “Dark magic like that doesn’t go unnoticed. I felt it happen. You felt traces of it too, didn’t you?”

Sungjin nods somberly. “Whoever was there with them didn’t leave enough of themselves to track down. I’m starting to think our killer did this from afar. Which leaves a magic trace. And tracking down magic is your specialty.”

“I’m good but I’m not  _ that _ good. There was barely a trace left. No dust or breadcrumbs to follow at all.”

He releases a small laugh from his chest. “Come on, I’ll buy you an ice cream. It’ll make you feel better.”

“Catching the killer will make me feel better.” But even as I say that, I follow Sungjin to a stall and pick out the flavors I want on my cone: strawberry, milk, and green tea. The girl behind the glass case carves the ice cream into a rose and hands it to Sungjin who hands it to me.

“This is for you,” he says with a smile so tender, I look away.

I don’t dwell on the split second our fingers touch, or on the lingering heat from where the rough pad of his fingertips come in contact with my knuckles. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

A blanket of awkward silence envelopes us, and I struggle to fill in the blank spaces. All those other nights with Sungjin, tracking a bad guy or searching for clues, not once did the silence bother me until tonight.

I clear my throat after he gets a cone of his own. “Is it just me, or are there more flowers than usual?” Specifically roses. Red roses. Single, long-stemmed red roses or large bouquets of red roses. Couples everywhere wearing matchy-matchy outfits.

Sungjin grunts and scratches the back of his ear. “You really don’t know?”

“Know what?” I scrunch my nose at the group of couples who pass by us. This place is known to have couples in varying states of lovey-doveyness everywhere, but something about tonight has them all extra ooshy and  _ ugh _ .

“It’s Valentine's Day.”

“That’s today?”

“You seriously don’t know?”

“I don’t keep track of these things,” I counter, annoyed. “I can barely keep track of what I need to accomplish in a day and this case...it’s driving me crazy.”

Sungjin just hums and keeps walking alongside me.

“I’m serious. Besides, look at all these people. They look like they’ve all been brainwashed into celebrating the day when what’s there to celebrate? It’s all so...I don’t know. Fake. And manufactured.”

“If you say so.”

“Wait, is there somewhere you need to be tonight?” Like a date. I don’t pry into his personal life, only picking out the details he’s comfortable sharing, blurted out confessions I wasn’t meant to hear, habits I find out only because we tend to spend inordinate amounts of time together like this. Of course, he’s free to see people if he wants to. He probably should.

“I’m exactly where I need to be because if you die in a ditch, this city loses its last Guardian and I don’t think the High Council will appreciate that.”

“I won’t die in a ditch,” I mutter petulantly. “And you need a life. You should probably go find yourself a girlfriend or something. I mean, I’m a lost cause because, well, Guardian and all that applies, but you…”

“You and I both know that’s physically impossible for me.” Because he’d be too much. Feel too much. Give too much.

I shrug. “Maybe you’ll find someone who’s fine without being physical? There are all sorts of people in the world. Or maybe you’ll find another Lycan and you won’t be so afraid to touch her for fear of tearing her into pieces—” I pause mid-step and hold back a war cry.

“You just had an epiphany, didn’t you.”

I start down the street in a power walk just below the level of a jog, acceptable enough without rousing suspicion. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before.”

“Good. Now this time use your words and share with the rest of the class.”

“Those two students must have been possessed by a Horror.” Horrors are amorphous blobs of pure negativity, parasites that possess objects that in turn posses humans and Turn them into shapeshifting monsters. Part of my job is hunting down these pools of evil and eliminating them before they find a host and wreak havoc. Yes, my ancestors decided this is a one-person job. I may be magic, but I’m still only human.

“If that’s the case, why didn’t they Turn? They were human when we found them.”

“I don’t know yet,” I admit. Then, “That’s what we’re about to find out. We need to get back to that club.”

 

***

 

Sungjin and I make it halfway to the club when I realize we’re being followed. 

The trick to this is to keep yourself from reacting. Stay cool. Calm. “Could be just me, but I think someone might be following us.”

Sungjin doesn’t even raise a brow and his face is almost always out of his control. “Tall guy, black coat, face mask, sunglasses? I’ve seen him all day, I think. But considering this is standard  _ Look at me, I’m cool _ look, who knows for sure.”

“ _ You _ would know for sure,” I shoot back, “I’ve seen him just standing there trying really hard to make it look like he’s not watching us. And he has a very distinct set of piercings.” I notice these things now because Sungjin also has a very distinct set of piercings that are utterly fascinating to study if only it weren’t so inappropriate.

“It’s not like there’s anything we can do about it,” he offers, “Everyone’s out tonight, there are about a bajillion people on the street and when we get to the club, that’s two bajillion people.”

“You know, the sass? It doesn’t help. But fine, if that’s how you want to play it.”

“You can’t just go whacking people around,” he chides, “besides, what if it’s not that? Maybe he wants to ask you out tonight. He looks lonely.”

I snort. I happen to be good at whacking people, and other sort, around. It’s very effective. “Maybe he wants to ask  _ you _ out tonight.”

“Well I am pretty good looking, aren’t I? Can’t really blame him.”

“Your confidence astounds me.”

“As it should. Let’s just play it by ear and see what happens.”

 

***

 

A shiver runs down the back of my arm as soon as we reach the club’s vicinity. It’s a tactile feeling owing to my witching Sense. Nighttime always did amplify powers from creatures of the dark, and while Night and Day themselves are neither good nor evil, there’s something about the shadows and the moonlight that make things go bump in the night.

Sungjin and I drift around, our Cool Friend always at a respectable distance behind us. The club, called Daydream, is located underground with the entrance located in a narrow alley between two commercial buildings. You’d miss it if not for the long line of people, about fifty or so, waiting impatiently along the street. This section of the city is full of university students, another kitschy affair of the fashion forward, the nonconformists, and the otherwise artistically inclined. It was full of excited yelling, raucous high-pitched laughter, and music blaring from every imaginable direction. Lights flashed and danced, buskers filled the streets each of them inside their bubbles of merry chaos.

I feel it then, a near unnoticeable quiver like a metallic ping from an unplugged electric guitar. Stepping closer to the club amplified the feeling. Something is definitely going on in there. I can feel it in the thrum of the music and the concrete beneath my feet.

Sensing the change in my tension, Sungjin says “Something’s here, isn’t there.”

“ _ Something _ for sure. How’s our friend?”

Sungjin inhales sharply and his eyes flash amber. “Still interested. I’m not entirely sure if he’s following us because he’s looking for what we’re looking for, or if he’s following us to make sure we don’t find what we’re looking for.”

“If only  _ we _ knew what we were looking for.”

Sungjin rolls his shoulders. A gesture of frustration. “Only one way to find out.”

We don’t have to communicate the decision out loud. Sungjin and I are already on our way toward the back of the club to find an alternative entrance. The back of the building is dark with shadows the light of the full moon cannot reach. I keep my guard up, just in case. Next to me, I can feel Sungjin do the same, his now amber eyes alert for any physical danger. Just knowing he’s with me, feeling his calm assured strength around me, is more than enough to rest my fears.

Because no matter how long I’ve been doing this, no matter how much training I’ve endured to get to where I am or how confident I am of what I can do, it doesn’t change the fact that every day I risk my life and that I’m afraid of death.

But not as long as Sungjin is with me.

“Just stay close to me,” Sungjin mutters close to my ear.

“I’m not a child,” I shoot back, voice steadier than I expect. “I’m a trained witch. And Guardian of the City. I’m not helpless. I can defend myself.”

“I know,” he says patiently. “That’s why I said stay close to me. Did you ever consider that  _ I _ need defending? You’re not the only one putting your life in danger here. Don’t be selfish.”

I stifle a smile. Now is not the time for this. “We’re just going into a club. With dancing. Do you like dancing?”

“I’m an epic dancer,” he says, leveling me with a look. “But we can go dancing some other time when there isn’t a probability of some kind of murderer or Horror in the club.”

We step in through the back door, me first then Sungjin behind me. Music blasts at us, a deep psychedelic trance mix all the patrons are swaying to. The bassline goes straight to my bones, anchoring the music to time and pulling me deeper into the pit. Like a hive-minded organism, the moshpit flails and writhes to the hypnotic beat and neon lights. Everywhere the strobe hits, it’s body to body, eyes closed and gyrating against each other. We tread carefully through the darkness, avoiding elbows and other extremities while navigating our way to the center of the dance floor. On stage is a DJ shrouded by the shadows, but it’s from there I feel the center of this dark energy. No wonder this club is so popular.

“Anything?” I ask Sungjin. I have to stand on tiptoe and tug at his sleeve so he’d lean closer for me to speak into his ear. I don’t even need light to know his ear’s probably flushed neon pink.

“Nothing you haven’t figured out yet.”

I don’t let go of his sleeve. “Is our friend still here?”

Sungjin closes his eyes and hums. “Shouldn’t you be tracking his energy signature?”

Stepping closer, I lay my other hand on his chest. His heartbeat is slow and steady in this sultry heat. My heart starts beating faster. “Sungjin…”

“Yeah?”

I look up at him, and my fingers curl and tangle into the collar of his hoodie. “You’ve been really good to me. No one’s been this good to me.”

His breathy laugh tickles my cheek. “That’s because you don’t know a lot of people.”

“You risk your life for me.”

“According to my last count, we’re split 60-40, but I’ll give you a chance to save my life if that will make you feel better,” he answers quietly.

I lick my lips. “You and me…we’ve never really...we’re not a we- _ we. _ ”

“No, we’re not.”

“Why not? I know we’ve only known each other for a little more than a year, but after all we’ve been through? How come nothing’s ever...happened?”

“Reasons,” he exhales softly. “Work, mostly. And I am what I am, and…” He runs his nose down my cheek. “And you...it wouldn’t be right.”

I shift just enough to touch my nose to his. “But...technically...we could...if we wanted to. Even if it were forbidden, it’s so easy breaking the rules…”

“Are we deciding to?”

I push up on my toes and press my lips to his. Gently, at first. Very gently. Sungjin sighs into the kiss and pulls my body against his and I entwine my arms around his neck. The kiss turns hungry, deep. Hot and desperate. Sungjin all but growls into my mouth.

He pulls away first. “We’re working.”

“We’re always working,” I whine. “It’s all we ever do.”

He grins. “Doesn’t look like we’re getting more information out of tonight. We’ve been hitting dead ends from the start.”

“We can take a break for the night, right?” I feel a rumble of excitement deep inside me.

“We could. We should. We’ve been working too much.”

My face splits into a smile before I’m even aware. “We deserve a break, right? Why haven’t we thought about this before?”

“Can we go back to your place?”

I giggle into his collar bones. My heart is beating so fast. I can’t remember if it’s ever gone off this way before. “Sounds like a really good idea. You always did have the best of ideas.”

We start moving again, this time toward the exit. Hand in hand, we slip through the moshpit laughing silly at each other. When we emerge back out the alley, he kisses me again, pressing me hard against him.

“Sungjin,” I wheeze between the kiss. “Let go a bit, you’re crushing me.”

“I just can’t believe we’ve never done this before.”

“I know, it’s crazy.” It’s so crazy my heart hurts.

“I think I’m crazy.”

“Sungjin, let go. I can’t breathe.” But his hold on me tightens and my feet lift off the ground. I push against him. “You’re  _ hurting _ me.”

Sungjin blinks and lets go so quickly I drop to my feet on unstable legs. He runs his hand through his hair and mutters to himself. “What just happened? Something happened.”

I look up, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Something weird is happening.”

I feel a sledgehammer in my chest. “Something  _ good _ is happening. Why are you making it sound like it’s a bad thing?”

“I’m not saying that, I’m just saying... _ look _ at us.”

“I am.” I take a step closer to him. “I am looking at us. Don’t you like what you’re seeing? How long have you felt this way? And pretended not to? Denied feeling this way? Because...this doesn’t just come out of nowhere. There could be something real here.”

“Listen to yourself.”

I launch myself at him and shove him as hard as I can. My heart hurts so much. He doesn’t even budge so I hit his chest with my fists. “You can’t just do this to me. You can’t tell me you don’t think we have something here that could be real. I’m not crazy!”

But even as I say that, the words bounce around in my head. _Real._ _Crazy_.

“Oh,” I groan. “Oh no.” My heart is still beating fast, but this time it’s from embarrassment.

“Hey, it’s okay. We got hit with something, maybe it was the lights or the music…”

“Oh no.”

Sungjin smiles warmly at me. “Hey. It’s okay. I got hit, too.”

Until his trigger words slapped sense into him. “I should’ve known better.”

“You’re right. I should’ve too…I shouldn’t have...you know. I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for,” I tell him. I clutch at my chest to calm my beating heart. “It wasn’t us. If it were...it would’ve been…”

“Different?”

“Yeah. Not like this.”

He nods. “It was a little too easy.”

“Shouldn’t it be easy?” I may not know much about love, but I know I’ll know it when I feel it. I’ll know it when it’s there...and it’s been there. But...

“Not for you and me.”

I take a deep, shaky breath. “How messed up is that?”

“Pretty messed up. You know for someone’s who’s tasked to keep the city safe, you’re terrible at avoiding traps. Physical, or otherwise.”

He looks away when I turn to him, and I study his averted face. “That’s why I have you.” And that’s why we can’t have each other.

A cold shiver passes through the air. Dark and twisted. Sungjin glances at me, and the color drains from both our faces. We run down the direction of the void and careen to a stop.

Two more dead bodies, a couple with their hearts blown out of their chests. Exactly like the first murder.

 

***

 

We return to the bookstore.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming,” I say. “I should’ve seen that coming. Why didn’t I feel anything? I should’ve felt something. I’m trained not to fall for these things, and yet—”

I scream into my palms. Granted, this is not appropriate behavior for a Guardian. If he were here, my grandfather would be scandalized I’m not made of stone-cold marble as he and my father had been. But given that they’ve both disappeared— along with my mother— to some other dimension never to be seen again, forgive me Father, Grandfather, if I’m a little emotional.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Sungjin says, calmly. “Let’s just focus on the case. That’s what’s important.”

“If we hadn’t— we could have—”

“We don’t know that we could have.”

Stopped the murders from happening, that is. You’d think that being aware of this sort of magic makes it easier to avoid it, or that realizing you’ve been mentally tampered with relieves you from its influence, but it doesn’t always work that way. These kinds of spells, you never know if they ever go away. These…whatever it is I have for Sungjin…I may never know for sure if they’re real. Do I even really want to know the answer?

“He’s right,” The graveyard shift guy, Jae, says from behind the register. Like me, Jae is magic. But unlike me, Jae has lived his entire life not knowing he’s magic until a couple of years ago when he started training with the guy who actually owns this shop. “The important thing,” Jae adds, “is you’re safe. Because if we lose you, we’re, um, kinda doomed.”

Jae just also happens to be a Seer. Whether or not this Doomsday scenario is a Vision he’s had, one of the many parallel futures that run through time and space, I never ask. My life is not mine to do as I please.

Because I guard the Light of the city. Because I was born into the role, the only one trained to do so, the only who can use the sealing spell to trap Darkness and repatriate Horrors to Hell. I never wanted this, but here I am, resigned to the fact that my life belongs to the Light.

I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders.

What a sobering thought.

I pull my focus out of my own messed up personal life and back to my responsibilities. With a shaky breath, I right myself and calm down. It’s not about me. It never is. “Anything noteworthy about tonight’s murders?”

Sungjin visibly relaxes and rests his hip against the edge of the table. “Besides being identical to the first? Nothing, yet. We need to take a look at the police files, especially if there’s any forensic evidence. And your guy from Special Crimes hasn’t called us yet.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “I’m sure he will when the case gets passed on to him.”

Unfortunately for us, our services are at the very end of the pipeline. The authorities aren’t exactly open to the conclusion that some crimes are simply beyond mortal creativity and capacity. But when the going gets weird, they know who to call. They may not be able to tie up the crimes with pretty bows, but these vampire attacks, faerie abductions, nine-tailed foxes gone wild, they happen. People get attacked, children get kidnapped, and property are either destroyed or stolen.

Hence, my day job. Jobs, in the plural.

Note that I use the term “job” very loosely in this context. I don’t get paid working at the bookstore. The only reason we even keep the bookstore as it is is because it doubles as our office. And our home. Jae and I have taken to living here— as we’ve nowhere else to go and can’t afford decent living conditions— him in the basement and myself in the attic. That is aside from the fact that I don’t actually get paid guarding the city from delinquent creatures from Hell or wherever they came from. Which is why I take on these “consultation” jobs from the local police and whoever is willing to pay for our services. Because I am mortal. I need to to eat. And pay the bills. Naturally, Jae shares the burden with me.

“Might be sooner than you think,” Jae says, eyes darting out to the front door.

I’m about to ask if he’s had a vision, but the front door opens with a bright tinkle and in comes Im Jaebum, rookie detective at the Special Crimes Unit of the local police precint. Im Jaebum is a presence, don’t let his age fool you. With piercing eyes, he’s just as hard-boiled as any world-weary senior detective. Probably smarter than all of them if he’s already here. A lot more impressive because I have a feeling his director has no idea Jaebum’s come to see us.

“JB,” I say, as saccharine as I can manage. “What a pleasure to see you. Oh, we’re doing fine. Peachy. Thank you for asking. Whatever brings you here? Looking for a book? What are you into? Detective fiction? Urban fantasy? Romance?”

“What about eight dead bodies and four crime scenes?”

I snap my mouth shut and gesture for all four of us to move to the loft. Jaebum doesn’t wait until we’re all seated and shows us the crime scene photots on his phone. I leave that to Sungjin. “Four crime scenes? A serial killer?”

“That’s what I’m hoping you’d tell me,” Jaebum replies. “What kills like this?”

“A wizard,” I admit. I turn to Sungjin who confirms my suspicions with a near imperceptible nod. “Someone powerful enough to do this from a safe distance.”

“You don’t think the guy could’ve been right in front of them? Attacked them face to face?” Jaebum’s picked up more than just a few things from the year we’ve been working together. And I’ve learned from him. He’s getting me to say what he doesn’t want to ask out loud.

“Just because the guy wasn’t physically there to leave behind any evidence doesn’t mean we can’t find him,” I say. “There’s no such thing as a perfect crime.”

Jaebum shrugs off his coat, folds it over the back of a chair, then pushes the sleeves of his ice-blue button-down shirt up his elbows. A black cat hops onto the table and curls up at the center of it. He’s been here for as long as I can remember, we don’t have the heart to kick him out.

Jaebum looks at the cat with a tender gaze, but it’s gone when he looks back up at me. “You have to give me more than that.”

“That’s all I have for you. I have nothing. No means, motive, or definitive opportunity.”

Jaebum narrows his eyes at me. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Something that could get him killed. And I’m rather fond enough of him to not want him to get killed. “Something that I’m not 100% sure of yet.”

“A lead is a lead. We have a deal.”

I help him as long as he helps me. And my word is binding. “We started looking into this the night of the third murder. We were at Club Daydream tonight. Right when the last couple got killed.”

Jaebum presses his lips tight, the tension he’s holding in his neck and shoulders look painful. “Tell me again why you’re not my main suspect? You’re the only witch around here. You’re powerful enough to do this.”

Jae doesn’t even flinch. He’s an apprentice, not quite a wizard yet. But he’s already stronger than he thinks. Definitely more than he knows. More than any of us knows. But Jaebum doesn’t know that. Yet.

My scowl transforms into a smile. “Because we’ve been through too much and I’m the only witch you know and also you’re incredibly fond of me.”

Jae barely holds back a snort and Sungjin rolls his eyes. Jaebum’s nostrils flare, but whatever else he wants to say, he doesn’t say it. At least not out loud.

“Did you find anything?” he asks, gruffly.

I’m too ashamed to tell him I fell into a trap, so I say, “Nothing useful. But all the murders occurred within the radius of the club so it has to be involved somehow.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” Jaebum says, “but every lead I’ve followed gave me dead ends.”

“We could ask Brian?” Jae offers.

“No,” I answer. “We are not asking Brian.”

Brian is a vampire. I do not trust blood-sucking fiends of the night, thank you very much.

“I think I found something,” Sungjin says. He puts Jaebum’s phone on the table and shows us a zoomed in portion of the first murder. “Look at that.”

A piece of paper was stuck in the hand of the first girl. Sungjin swipes the screen to the side and on the ground, next to a spatter of blood in the second scene was another piece of paper. He shows us the same thing in pocket of the guy in the the third murder, and it shows up again in the contents of the fourth girl’s purse.

I dig into the pocket of my jeans and find the exact same scrap of paper. It’s the paper wrapper around the cone of the ice cream we bought earlier tonight.

“No such thing as coincidences in murder,” I say. All the pieces to this mystery are sliding into place inside my mind. “I think I know what happened. Let’s go.”

Jae hangs by the door. Though we don’t like it, the unspoken rule is one of us always has to stay behind. “Just be careful.”

“It’s me,” I tell him. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“That’s exactly what I worry about,” he shoots back. Then he turns to Sungjin.

I don’t like the look that passes between them, but there’s no time to dwell on it. Sungjin and I follow Jaebum out the street and back into the night.

 

***

 

“You said Horrors. Explain to me the ice cream again.” Jaebum is driving. “It’s like a love spell?”

I go with him, strapped to the passenger seat. Sungjin doesn’t like cars. He likes running. When you’re a super-human, you would too. When you’re an expert tracker, you’d prefer it too. Sungjin is both.

“I was wrong about the Horrors. It’s not about a Horror possessing a host. It’s about creating them. The ice cream is the catalyst. It amplifies your darker desires, taints love to a level where small arguments aren’t arguments until someone draws blood first. Literally. That’s what the defensive wounds on the victims are. Whatever feelings they had, they’re twisted into something evil until the negativity collects into a void in their chest and when there’s enough it’s extracted from the body.”

“That’s why their hearts get ripped out?”

“Too much love can kill you,” I quip. I can’t help it. At least now I know why my heart was beating so fast and so painfully. 

Jaebum sighs, already done with me. “How’d the victims get chosen?”

“That…I honestly don’t know. It could simply be a matter of chance.”

Jaebum curses under his breath.

“Whoever carries a seed of darkness inside them, something that could grow and take root…” I don’t finish that thought, afraid now of what it reveals about me.

“Why would someone collect all this Negativity?”

“It’s dark energy,” I answer, distracting myself by looking out the window. “Energy that can be used to fuel other things.”

“What kind of other things?”

“All kind of things. Things I hope we never have to see. We have to stop this guy.”

Jaebum all but stomps on the accelerator.

***

Sungjin tracks the ice cream truck to an empty lot at the unpopulated edge of the city. Far enough for anyone to trace any form of magic back to, and isolated enough to experiment with the dark arts. Jaebum parks his car a few hundred meters away and we huddle together, crouched by the side of the door.

I close my eyes and extend my Sense as far as I can reach. There could be more magical traps around, or shrouded guards, or trip wires (laser, magic, doesn’t matter) that could alert the Ice Cream Lady to our presence. I draw in my energy and open my Sight as well. My Sight allows me to see beyond what the human vision can: intent, true natures, even histories and a glimpse into the immediate future. When I Look ahead and into the ice cream truck, I see a haze of pain and a lust for power. I see the world for what it truly is, light and dark fighting for dominance. Everything comes to me in high definition, from the hum of the air, the smell of the grass growing in clumps in the concrete, and the chill the winter leaves behind.

More than that, I see death. So much death. It covers the ice cream truck like a veil that shrouds the metal confines in a fog. Seeing it weighs me down with a heavy feeling, like being suffocated in black smoke from an unstoppable fire. Fear and hatred grow like vines around the truck, taking root and feeding off these emotions, living off the life force of the victims.

I never asked for this power. Never asked to be sent away to hone what I never could understand as a child. My parents, they thought they were keeping me safe by sending me away, arming me with knowledge but not with the emotional enterprise to deal with what I See, what I fight. I knew then what I know now. I was a liability, they could not do their jobs with me around. Feeling Sungjin next to me, I understand it now.

Love is both a liability and a weakness. I have no room for both.

“See anything?” Jaebum asks.

“Fear, mostly. And a lot of anger, a lot of lust, a lot of bottled up emotions.” That last bit I mean both literally and figuratively. “She’s alone in there, but that only makes her more dangerous. You should probably stay here.”

Jaebum scoffs. “Yeah, right.”

Next to me, Sungjin is quiet, lupine eyes glowing gold. The beast inside him is raging, fury clawing beneath his skin, a hunter spotting his prey. Fear grips my throat with ice-cold fingers, but I shove the feeling away.

Then his eyes meet mine, and the gold melts away until all that’s left is the shelter of his warm brown eyes. “Ready?”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “This reminds me of the day I met you.”

He scowls. “This is nothing like the day we met.”

Jaebum turns off the safety of his gun. “Seriously? Bad Guy first. Flirt later.”

“Shut up, JB.” I stand up, focusing my energy into my leather bracers. Now that my fear has subsided, all I have is my presence of mind. And Sungjin and Jaebum. “And stay behind me.”

Taking the rear guard, Sungjin disappears into the shadows, but his strength lingers in the air. I take what I need, safety and peace, and step forward. I walk through this malevolent energy, through the air throbbing with hate and fear, armed with nothing but the power coursing through my veins.

Should be enough, I think.

The ice cream truck looks like a truck. Innocuous enough, but my Sight reveals more to it. It’s enchanted, not just to hide it in plain view. “It’s bigger on the inside,” I say.

“How much bigger?” Jaebum asks.

“Basement levels.”

“In the plural?”

“Oh, yeah. You should call for backup.”

“And say what?”

Good point. I try the door. It creaks open. That’s never a good sign, but what choice do I have? With a deep breath, I step inside with my guard up, ready to conjure a defensive shield should the need arise. One can never be too careful. Better think it can be a trap than be overconfident that the Ice Cream Lady’s careless.

From where we stand, the inside of the truck looks like the inside of a food truck. One confined space with the counter on one side and the supplies flush against the wall of the other side. But after the Sight, the ice cream isn’t just ice cream. Through each flavor I see the essence of potions imbued into the cold treats. Not just potions but the feelings they’re meant to amplify and corrupt. I see twisted faces and hollow eyes, torment and disaster in every sweet bite. Now I understand why I didn’t notice them before. They’re not meant to create the emotions, the potions are designed to interact with the desires and emotions already inside the victim. I couldn’t have known unless I open my Sight, something that I never do because it reveals too much of the world and too much of me. There’s just too much that I can never be able to carry such a mental and emotional load. Wizards and witches have been known to descend to the Dark Side and into madness from using the Sight too much.

Further down, is a ramp through which I feel the heady call of malice. The ramp spirals down and around an atrium at least three storeys deep. A sickly green flame lights the center and bathes the interior in a malignant light. JB and I make to the bottom, where we find the Ice Cream Lady, dressed in black robes hunched over a work table surrounded by vials and flasks filled with the plasmic negativity.

“He told me you were coming for me,” she rasped, eyes gazing into a pool of metallic black liquid inside a shallow ceramic bowl.

“Who did?” I ask. “Who told you?”

“He said you were coming for me.”

I brave a step forward while JB stays behind, gun drawn and at the ready. “Can you tell me your name?”

Ice Cream Lady lowers her face closer to the black liquid. “And that when you come for me, I should kill you.”

“Maybe we should talk about this? I think we should talk about this.”

“I just want people to fall in love,” she cried. “We must make love not war!”

“That’s not…that’s not love,” I say as calmly as I can. “You’re not creating love, you’re—”

“Have you ever been in love? It’s awful isn’t it? All that longing, all that desire…all that…holding back. People should just act on their desires, shouldn’t they? Make it easy. I’m making it easy for people to be true to their feelings.”

“You can’t make that choice for them…you’re—”

“They experience a love that transcends time and mortality itself,” she wheezes, “how many people can say they’ve loved the way I showed them.”

“That’s not love. You can’t force love—”

Her daze transforms into panic, a snarling anger, and she shrieks into her hands. Power shatters into the room, wild and undirected, sending objects into the air and a force of wind slamming into us. I brace myself as I hear shots fire but hit nothing. Another burst of power, and Jaebum and I are hurled into the cold stone floor. Raw, dangerous magic surrounds the air and emanates from the Ice Cream Lady. Her shoulders twist and bend around her in unnatural ways, bones breaking in audible snaps. Her skin breaks down in burnt clumps of flesh and black slime and from her body emerges a grotesque metallic being from the underworld.

“This is why I told you to stay behind!” I yell at Jaebum.

“Really? After all we’ve been through?”

“Given all we’ve been through, I’m surprised we’re still at it.”

Ice Cream Lady Monster screams into the ceiling, a high-pitched sound that slices through my ears. Her wrought-iron form lunges at me, and I, still on the floor, lift my hands and conjure a defensive barrier. But the impact never comes. When I open my eyes, Sungjin is in front of me, holding back the Horror the Ice Cream Lady has become. Jaebum scrambles to his feet and shoots at the Horror.

Normal weapons and my usual arsenal of magic are useless against Horrors, though they do slow them down enough. There is only one way to defeat this kind of monster. Stepping back, I summon the weapon of my ancestors. Heat and light gather in both my palms and extend into a bow and arrow. My father and grandfather preferred long swords, but when the physical manifestation of the weapon is the only thing I can control, I do with it what I will.

I pull back the bowstring and steady my hand on my cheek. “Keep her steady!”

Jaebum slams into the wall next to me. “Working on it,” he grunts.

Sungjin throws himself into the Horror before she can turn her eyes on me. They trash and flail together, a blur of movement making it impossible for me to take a clear shot. I take my bow and reshape it into two reverse-grip short swords. There are two ways to down a Horror: you either hack it down or you strike its core. Given that I haven’t located its core, I only have the first option available to me.

My heart is racing, but I force the fear down and let the adrenaline take over. I roll to the Horror’s underside and strike at its belly. My swords burn through the thick fibrous hide, and the Horror flings Sungjin away with a spit of acid. It shakes his head to gather its wits then turns to me, plants its claws on either side of me. Black bottomless eyes stare back at me and two sets of fangs snap over my face. I raise my swords to hold its jaw back. Thick green acid sprays over my arms, burning through my clothes and into my skin.

Jaebum and Sungjin attack it from both sides, but Jaebum gets caught under a broad clawed foot, swatted away like a fly. He rolls limp on the floor. Sungjin circles the Horror, his eyes glowing in the darkness of the pit. This isn’t Sungjin anymore. The Alpha wolf spirit has taken over him completely, howling in rage as he leaps through the air and hammers into the Horror’s side. That’s when I see the difference between Sungjin the human and Sungjin the Alpha. Where Sungjin as himself is quick, he is quick and graceful when he allows the Alpha to take over. The Alpha is more primal, more wild than anything I’ve ever seen. He slips behind her, defiant and elegant.

I roll away and steady the thundering in my chest. And that’s when I see it. Sungjin takes the Horror’s head in a sleeper hold and on its thorax I find the blue-green sheen of a core. It’s small, about the size of my fist. Everywhere hurts. My arms are covered in burns and my shoulders are bruised, but I take what Will I can and shape my bow from what Light I had energy left to conjure.

But before I can do that, the Horror escapes from Sungjin’s hold and throws him at me. We crash into the floor, and I hope I’m wrong when I feel something inside me crack. By the time I catch my breath, Sungjin has hurtled himself into the Horror. Clutching my side, I push myself up to my feet. Jaebum has regained consciousness as well, and is off to the side reloading his gun.

“Distract that thing,” I tell him.

Jaebum grunts his response. “Why do I keep coming with you to these things.”

“Uncontrollably fond of me,” I whimper, “like I said.”

“What happened to your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my…anything,” I answer, shaking the thought off my head. “Remember when I told you he’s a wolf?”

He raises his gun and aims at the Horror. “I thought you said he’s a werewolf?”

“No.” I check myself if I’m bleeding. Yep, there’s blood on my shoulder. “I said there’s a Wolf Spirit that lives inside him.”

“How do you make him snap out of it?” I could be wrong, but I think Jaebum’s cracked a rib, what with the way he’s faltering to stand up straight.

“I don’t know,” I confess. I gather the energy I have left and focus them all in my palms. “I’ve never seen him like this before.”

Jaebum shoots at the Horror’s horns, shoulders, and face. Each bullet like a fly, more annoying than damaging. But effective. Sungjin continues his dance to the death, throwing himself into the Horror’s opening, rolling and twisting around her in a frenzy of blood and acid. It snarls at him, tries to shift its weight over Sungjin, but Sungjin is faster. But the Horror is stronger.

“No! Sungjin watch out!”

But my screams are useless. Sungjin and the Horror fall into a heap on the ground, but the Horror’s eyes are gleaming with lightning. It hisses and presses its hooves down Sungjin’s chest and his throat. Jaebum empties the last of his bullets into its face before dropping down to his knees. Sungjin cries out in agony and frustration.

I see it then, the image of Sungjin lifeless flashing before my eyes.

Desperation can lead to extraordinary acts. My throat burns with the raw shout that leaves my mouth. Light envelops my arms and the wind picks me up off the floor. My vision is sharp and clear, so much so that I can pick out the details on the Horror’s scales. I can smell the blood from Sungjin’s wounds, the ferrous smell driving me sick. But I also hear the faint beating of his heart. The surge of power thunders in my hands and I conjure my bow. The Horror roars at me, sets her eyes at me, and in that moment, time slows down.

I feel my body thrum with vicious excitement. I pull the bowstring back, and with a heavy exhale I let the arrow soar through the air and straight into the Horror’s core. Blinding white light erupts in my eyes, from the Horror’s demise or from the pain in my hip as I fall to the ground I’m not sure. All I see is the Horror disappearing in a flash of blue flame and grey steam.

I suck in another breath and crawl towards Sungjin. “Hey…wake up…Sungjin…”

His hands close in on my arms like a wolf’s jaw clamping down in its prey.

Jaebum rushes toward me.

“No, JB stay away!” I say to him, “Don’t hurt him.”

“I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.”

I cry out in pain. “Sungjin,” I choke, “come back to me. Don’t let this Alpha take you away from me…” I reach out to touch his face and hold his head steady. “Come back to me, Sungjin.”

The gold in his irises flicker and my name spills from his lips in a gasp. With a sharp inhale, my Sungjin is back. I close my fists on his torn hoodie, but he gently pries my hands away and flinches away from me.

“Don’t touch me,” he says, staggering back. “Not now. Not like this.” He stares at his shaking bloodied and bruised hands as if only now realizing what he’s done. Eyes unfocused, he says, “I’m so sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?” It’s too late when I realize I’m holding onto my arms.

“You should stay away from me.” His eyes clear, and somehow I understand. What he saw through the eyes of the Alpha, all that strength, all the death and destruction, all that rage and agony is too much for the gentle Sungjin. Right now, it’s fear I sense in him. He’s afraid of himself.

My head is pounding. “What are you talking about? Sungjin…”

“You’re not safe with me.” Then he’s off in a sudden rush.

I’m hurt. And I’m tired.

I black out.

***

I wake up in my bed. The familiar ceiling brings comfort and sends relief washing over me.

Then I see Jae’s face hovering over mine. He holds three fingers up in front of my eyes. “Do you know who I am? How many fingers do you see?”

“Just because I was knocked out doesn’t mean I have amnesia. And three,” I answer, slapping his hand away. My voice is hoarse and speaking hurts my throat. “Water,” I croak.

I love water. I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated water like this in my life before. I let the cold liquid soothe my throat and settle in my gut. The feeling of elation doesn’t last long.

I blink and see the memory of Sungjin’s face before he left me.

“You had quite a night,” Jae says, taking the glass from my hands and setting it down the side table. “How are you feeling?”

“What day is it?”

“It’s been three days.” He blinked. To hold back sounding so worried. “JB left something for you. He’s fine, by the way. Just a little bruised. He was here last night to check you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a folder.” He reached into the drawer next to my bed. “A dossier. On the Ice Cream Lady. He said you’d want to see her history and…yeah.”

“Did he say anything else?”

Jae shook his head.

“Did…” I can’t bring myself to ask it. “Did he…”

“No,” Jae answers quietly. “It was just JB. He said you should go see him when you’re feeling better. Said there’s still stuff to work out about this case.”

Sungjin would have a list. But…he hasn’t come back. Not for me.

“JB told me what happened.”

“Yeah.” I turn away.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” But I don’t really know how I’m feeling. I know my body feels like dead weight and that if I move everywhere will hurt. But on the inside? “I’m fine.”

After Jae leaves, I browse through the file Jaebum left for me. In it is everything relevant to know about the Ice Cream Lady. She used to be a matchmaker until her business went under. Before that, she used to be in a happy relationship before a divorce took away everything she held dear. The negativity took over her heart, all the dark energy finally consumed her and she became a Horror. And I slayed her.

But Jaebum’s files don’t answer the remaining questions in my head. A regular human like her, even if she did display magical aptitude or a skill for potions making, would not come into possession of recipes and formulas for the potions she used in her ice cream. Someone must have given them to her. Taught her how to use this knowledge. What was she collecting all that dark energy for? And why? And the guy who was shadowing us while we were investigating, who is he and how is he involved in all this?

All the questions are making my head hurt.

And thoughts of Sungjin is making my heart hurt.

In a way I get it. Sungjin knows this, and I know this. This is why I can’t fall in love. Why we can’t fall in love. Not with anyone else, especially not with each other.

At least, not yet.

Or maybe not ever.

But I wait.

  
  



End file.
